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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Meet the Radical Cheerleaders |
| 2003-11-14 |
| Edited for laughs: They fight bombs with pompoms and kick high for consciousness. The Radical Cheerleaders, a loose network of young, mostly female activists, have put a new face on protest. Using the same moves performed by a high school pep squad, they’ve heckled for livable wages at an Alabama Taco Bell, chanted anti-war rhymes on Boston Common and marched in the Saskatchewan Pride Parade. "We do for our fellow activists what cheerleaders do for sports players: we get people going," said Betsy Housten, 24, of the New York City Radical Cheerleaders. Housten has cheered at the mayor’s doorstep to demand citywide recycling and at a burlesque club to raise money for a feminist bookstore. Now her group is collecting anti-globalization cheers for a trip to Miami, where large demonstrations are planned for Nov. 19-21, when Pan-American leaders meet to discuss the Free Trade Area of the Americas. That’s next week, we need pictures. "It’s not just the same "1, 2, 3, 4, we don’t want your racist war" stuff that’s been around since the sixties," Housten said. Cheers have changed, agenda still the same. There are squads in Phoenix, San Diego and Ottawa and on several college campuses, with names like the Rocky Mountain Rebels and the Memphis Dirty Southern Belles. Many have their own Web sites, featuring cheers and links to other activist groups. Some, like the New York cheerleaders, use Internet newsgroups and telephone hot lines to organize practices and rallies. It’s hard to estimate the number of radical cheerleading groups in the country, since nobody’s keeping track. Their largest gathering to date was in 2001, when squads from all over North America attended a convention in Ottawa. Organizers expect about 1,000 cheerleaders to protest in Miami. Well, they’ll be more entertaining than the other puppets. The cheerleaders’ reach extends beyond North America: In 2000, O’Hara said, American activists started a cheerleading squad outside the International Monetary Fund meeting in Prague. It included women from all over Europe. "Now there are squads in Sweden, London, Warsaw and Ireland," said 26-year-old Emily O’Hara, a founder of the New York squad who is known on the protest circuit as Mary Christmas. "It’s becoming this new crazy thing there." You’ll got the "crazy" part right. Groups like the Radical Cheerleaders contribute to the sense of festivity at a political rally, says Todd Gitlin, a social activism expert and professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Another example of why journalism continues it’s downward slide. "Often people who organize demonstrations want to do more than apply their presence to political ends," Gitlin said. "They want to project a presence that seems like an embodiment of their values. Cheerfulness says, ’we are having a better time than they are. It promises recruits, ’stick around, you’ll have more fun.’" Hot chicks will do that. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #17 I'm into it! Yeah! Just like my college days: My blood runs cold! My memories have just been sold! My Angel in a center.... uh, these girls ain't real pretty, are they? W.W.J.G.D. -- What Would J. Giles Do? |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2003-11-14 7:49:31 PM |
| #16 Arrrgggg!! My Eyes! MY EYES! Damn you Yank! My Eyes! Ugly enuf to stop a D-9? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-11-14 4:24:45 PM |
| #15 the old '60's chants are infinitely adaptable, and not just for leftie causes. I guess you guys dont remember "2,4,6,8 Israel is a JEWISH state" "1,3,5,9 no such land as Palestine" or "2,4,6,8 let my people emigrate" and "2,4,6,8 open up the iron gate" and then there was the lefty originated, but suitable for any budget related protest "they say cutback, we say fightback" |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-11-14 1:46:40 PM |
| #14 Arrrgggg!! My Eyes! MY EYES! Damn you Yank! My Eyes! No wonder they want to be in a Burqa..... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2003-11-14 1:38:25 PM |
| #13 Playboy photoshoot we don't want to see: The Girls of ANSWER. |
| Posted by: BH 2003-11-14 1:33:01 PM |
| #12 Housten has cheered at the mayor’s doorstep to demand citywide recycling and at a burlesque club to raise money for a feminist bookstore. cheerleaders against burlesque? Apparently, the irony escapes them. 1,2,3.4, look at me and look somemore..5,6,7,8 attention we can generate....9,10,11,12 we've discovered and discovered well....13,14,15,......at 16...if we can bounce up and down, men think we're swell. |
| Posted by: B 2003-11-14 12:55:49 PM |
| #11 Reminds me of this: http://www.hosstyle.com/Goofy%20shit/HTML/women_not_decoration.htm |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-11-14 12:32:03 PM |
| #10 Granola Gurlz on Parade! Never seen so many braided armpits before in my life. |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-11-14 12:25:55 PM |
| #9 1, 2, 3, 4, we don't want your freedom no more. 5, 6, 7, 8, give me a Burqa and put me in my place! |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-11-14 12:02:08 PM |
| #8 1234, we're for peace, love and cute furry animals |
| Posted by: Lucky 2003-11-14 11:48:23 AM |
| #7 It really looks like 'peace' riots are the place to hook up with ugly, hairy chicks. Those Doc Martens are tres sexy, much more so than plain ol' cheerleader outfits. The anarchists also wear masks alot- are they practicing wearing burqas when they turn the U.S. into a socialist sharia paradise, I wonder? |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-11-14 11:35:47 AM |
| #6 Some images I found (couldn't get the links to work). They appear to be about what you would expect: http://www.infoshop.org/octo/cheerleaders.jpg http://www.newint.org/features/Images/wash6.jpg http://www.geocities.com/fraudfreevote/northampton_11-11_photo03.jpg http://www.indyweek.com/durham/2002-04-17/trotline-1.jpg http://www.infoshop.org/octo/p1010066.jpg |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-11-14 11:31:31 AM |
| #5 "It’s not just the same "1, 2, 3, 4, we don’t want your racist war" stuff that’s been around since the sixties," Housten said. For that I welcome them as well, I'm sick of the same old Vietnam chants. Be original for a change and perhaps people will listen. I agree with Frank, I've not heard of these lasses. I don't remember any real protests in San Diego at all. There was a pro-troops rally or two near the Mirimar Marine base but no protests. |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-11-14 11:14:49 AM |
| #4 "It’s becoming this new crazy thing there." At least they're self-aware. |
| Posted by: BH 2003-11-14 10:32:30 AM |
| #3 San Diego huh? Strange - they make a big impact since I've never heard of them.... subtle protests are the new wave? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-11-14 10:28:40 AM |
| #2 We should contract out the cheerleading to some hot babes from, oh say, Thailand. |
| Posted by: mhw 2003-11-14 10:00:54 AM |
| #1 known on the protest circuit as Mary Christmas Does this line of work have a union, does it pay a living wage, health insurance? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-11-14 9:31:07 AM |